I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ephesians 4-6.

    In the beginning of his letter to the Ephesians, Paul repeats that our salvation is a free gift from God and nothing we can do can earn it. However, in today’s passage Paul makes clear that does not mean that we can continue to live a life of sin. Instead we are to adopt a new life and accept the new self which the Spirit gives us, a new self which was created to live with a righteousness and holiness like that of God. And what does this new life look like? It involves avoiding falsehood and deception, speaking truthfully to those around us. It involves working hard to do something productive so that we have something to give to those in need. It involves saying only that which builds others up and benefits those who listen. It means avoiding immorality, impurity, and greed. In all of this Paul emphasizes making our words and our actions reflect the love of God for those we meet.

    Paul goes on to explain how we can resist the temptation for sinful behaviors by living our lives as if everything we do will be witnessed by others, because in the long run it will be. Do that which is productive and fruitful while avoiding unproductive activity. Paul warns us against anger and bitterness, that they can destabilize our lives and make us unproductive. When he discusses the armor of God, he shows us how resisting temptation and defeating evil has both passive and active elements. The battle we are waging is not against our fellow humans. It is against the powers and spiritual forces which have entered this world through sin. By being truthful and accepting the righteousness which God gives us we can avoid attacks those powers will direct our way. When we buckle on God’s peace we can stand our ground and let anger and bitterness flow around and away from us. We can use our faith in God’s goodness extinguish the shots intended to make us feel useless and like failures (we were made in God’s image, according to His good plan, how can we be failures?). Finally, if we arm ourselves by allowing the Spirit to direct our study of God’s word we can take the fight to the enemy, revealing and exploiting their weaknesses (just remember, the enemy is not any of the people around, but the spirits and powers of this world).